


December 12th: Little Saint Nick

by WestCoastSeabee



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Established Relationship, M/M, ProfilersForChristmas2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 19:47:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16604357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WestCoastSeabee/pseuds/WestCoastSeabee
Summary: "Just a little bobsled we call the old Saint Nick..."Aaron and Jack introduce Spencer to one of the joys of the holiday season.





	December 12th: Little Saint Nick

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [FA_ProfilersForChristmas2018](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/FA_ProfilersForChristmas2018) collection. 



> **Prompt:** Little Saint Nick by the Beach Boys

It was too quiet. Normally, Aaron appreciated the days when Spencer and Jack were tinkering in the basement. It warmed his heart that his son and husband got along so well and it gave him time to run errands and to make a dent in the neverending pile of paperwork that seemed to follow him home every weekend. This weekend was no exception to the mountain of paperwork, even though he was on his annual leave. The two agents had taken their annual leave to coincide with Jack’s winter break and with any luck, this would be the last time work would encroach upon family time.

Still concerned over the extended silence, Aaron hurried through the last of the files and set out to find them. Last he had heard, Jack had been bugging Spencer to help him with the design of his soap box derby car. Having joined the Boy Scouts a few years ago, he was excited to be eligible to compete this spring and wanted to capitalize on Spencer’s engineering background. With this in mind, Aaron decided to begin his search in the garage.

Stepping into the garage from the kitchen entrance, he was hit first with a blast of chilly air. From where he stood, he could see the small unit heater buzzing along trying to fight the cold wind blowing in from the open window. It was the strong odour of paint that explained the open window and was his second impression of the garage. His third impression was that of absolute adoration: Spencer and Jack sat cross-legged on the floor next to a slender and obviously aerodynamic wood car on which they were carefully painting silver snowflakes. The silver paint sparkled in contrast to the cheerful candy apple red base paint covering the rest of the vehicle. 

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Little Saint Nick and his Elf,” Aaron chuckled at how both of them startled when he spoke up. “What kind of trouble are you two getting into today?”

Jack jumped up, dropping his paintbrush to the newspaper below, “Dad! Dad! Come check it out! Papa has been helping me with my car. Isn’t it great?”

“It’s great, Buddy. You and Papa have certainly put a lot of hard work into this,” he said as his practice eye took in the details of a very sophisticated derby car. “I love the paint job, but won’t it be out of place come spring when the race happens?”

“I don’t care, I love Christmas! Besides, Papa’s been teaching me all about car engines and how they are measured in horsepower. He won’t tell me how reindeerpower compares to horsepower though. I think reindeerpower would be much better, they are magical after all!”

Meanwhile, Spencer had been cleaning up the brushes and paint cans confident that they were done working on the car for the day. “Jack, like I’ve told you, horsepower is called that because James Watt was comparing the output of his steam engine to that of a draft horse. To the best of my knowledge no one has ever done a comparison between the output of a horse and a reindeer, especially a magical reindeer.”

“Papa!”

“Spencer!”

“Sorry! Sorry! I just mean that,” Spencer was cut off by Aaron’s next question.

“Do you think we can swap out the wheels for skis on this?”

Spencer stared at Aaron utterly dumbfounded. “Put skis on the car? Why in the world would you do something like that?”

Aaron was trying hard not to smile at Spencer’s confusion, “You would do that so that you can take it out in the snow. What you have right now would make a wonderful sleigh. Too bad we don’t have any reindeer to pull it, eh Jackers? Think it could handle our usual hill? It is supposed to snow tonight.”

If it was possible, Jack’s smile grew even bigger. “You mean it, Dad?” 

Spencer was still lost, “Mean what?”

“Dad just suggested we go sledding tomorrow, didn’t you, Dad?”

Aaron reached over and pulled Jack into a big hug. “I absolutely suggested we go sledding tomorrow. Haven’t you ever been sledding, Spencer? Flying down the hill, snow pricking your cheeks, and the wind turning your Doctor Who scarf into a flag trailing behind you?”

“There isn’t a lot of snow in Vegas, Aaron.”

“There is in Virginia. Haven’t you gone sledding since moving here?”

“Why would I have done that? I have no reason to do so. 

Jack had been listening to his fathers’ conversation with great interest. As soon as he realized that his Papa had never been sledding, he started bouncing in his seat. “Oh, Dad! We have to go now! Please? Pretty please?”

Aaron smiled indulgently at his son, “I wouldn’t have suggested it if I didn’t plan on going. I think that is a great idea, Jack.”

Spencer’s gaze flicked between the two men who were smiling. He wasn’t sure what was happening but he had learned long ago to trust Aaron. “Why do I have a feeling I’m going to regret this?”

BT

The sun was shining brightly, causing the crystals in the snow to sparkle and shine like a million diamonds spread out across the ground. Looking down at the pristine blanket of snow covering the hill, Spencer found himself getting dizzy and wanting to step back. He knew that the hill wasn’t exceedingly high or steep, but standing on the precipice and looking down made it seem enormous. 

“Um, Aaron, are you sure this is safe?” Spencer asked, proud that his voice wasn’t nearly as shaky as he thought it would be. “Shouldn’t we have helmets? Or goggles? Or something more than what we have?”

“It is perfectly safe. I’ve been bringing Jack here to go sledding for years. He will be fine.”

“It’s not Jack I’m worried about,” Spencer muttered. “Ok then, how do we do this?”

“It’s really easy, Papa. You just sit down and go!” Jack said pulling Spencer towards the sleds that they had set down a few minutes earlier. “Here, you take this one and I’ll take this one. Dad, we are going down!”

“Hold on, I want to get a picture of this,” Aaron said straightening and struggling to get his cell phone out of his pocket while simultaneously taking off his glove. “Ok, smile!”

Spencer forced himself to smile, knowing that it was likely going to be more of a grimace. Jack was grinning like a maniac, “Ready, Papa?” Before Spencer could respond, Jack pushed off from the top of the hill, sending the two of them hurtling over the edge. 

Screams filled the air as they flew down the hill, a high pitched squeal of terror muffling the childish shrieks of pure joy. As they gained speed, Spencer opened his eyes, watching the world whip past him. He could feel the frosty air biting his cheeks, could almost taste the fresh air tinged with pine. Slowly, his terrified squeals morphed into laughter that blended with Jack’s as they raced down the hill. 

All too soon they slowed to a stop, Jack and Spencer winded from the exhilaration. Spencer breathed out in pure awe, “That was amazing!” 

“Wanna go again?”

“Absolutely!” Spencer took Jack’s hand and the two trudged up the hill, in search of the rush again. 

When they reached the top, they found Aaron sitting there on his own sled. He watched patiently while Spencer and Jack got settled back on their sleds before pushing off and yelling over his shoulder, “Race you to the bottom!” 

Several hours later, all three lay at the bottom of the bottom of the hill. Their heavy breathing creating puffs of steam in the cold air, their cheeks and noses rosy red, and their eyes shining brighter than sun that still sparkled off the snow. 

Spencer pushed himself up so that he could look over at this husband and spoke almost breathlessly, “Thank you.”

Aaron reached up and pulled Spencer down and into a kiss, “Merry Christmas.”


End file.
